Diagnosis and management of the limb girdle muscular dystrophies

Making the diagnosis of a particular type of limb girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) can appear challenging. In fact, various clues from the way the patient presents, and the results of simple investigations such as creatine kinase levels, can be extremely helpful in sorting out the various disease entities within this group of patients. The results of more specialised testing of the muscle biopsy and DNA sequencing offer the prospect of a clear answer in around 75% of cases. As more is understood about the clinical features of the different types of LGMD, targeted management is increasingly possible, especially focusing on those patients at high risk of cardiac and respiratory complications.